Cold snap brings unexpected garden birds
07 Mar 2018
A period of unprecedented warm temperatures in the Arctic resulted in an abrupt change of weather patterns in Europe in late February, with freezing temperatures and large amounts of snow throughout Britain and Ireland.
With normal feeding areas covered in snow, ground feeding birds had to divert to new and sometimes unexpected areas in search of food. Fieldfares became especially conspicuous as they visited gardens, as did Redwing and Brambling, and even waders such as Lapwing, Snipe and the odd Woodcock. The reporting rates for all these species reflect their increased detectability during the hard weather. For example, Fieldfare appeared on over 35% of complete lists, compared to the historical average of 13% for the first week of March!
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